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Never have we been so interested in adding powders to EVERYTHING. Spices, herbs, and supplements alike are a sudden staple in our smoothies, snacks, even our beauty products — Instagram has never looked more powderlicious. For good reason, too. Ingredients like adaptogens and spices are typically thought to have powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. But supplements aren’t the only wellness trend having a moment. See what other healthy habits we think are here to stay well into the New Year.
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Let’s Talk About Turmeric
The Internet has been going nuts over golden milk (“mylk” for our vegan friends). Crowd fave food blogger, Minimalist Baker, has a recipe that even has a viral “breakout” rating on Google Trends for the last 12 months worth of searches. “Golden milk recipe paleo” is up in search by 500 percent, “turmeric latte” is up 350 percent, and general searches on the benefits of the root are up as well. That’s a latte turmeric.
But we don’t see turmeric phasing out anytime soon. Aside from its hundreds of years worth of street cred, turmeric is loaded with antioxidants like curcumin which is a natural anti-inflammatory. Antioxidants fight and prevent the harmful oxidative stress caused by free radicals, making health and beauty benefits of this powerful spice ever so appealing. *Takes bite of turmeric ginger dark chocolate.*
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Bet on Barre
What the world needs now? Barre instructors. Apparently one of the fastest trending job openings of the moment on LinkedIn is barre teachers. Believe it. According to LinkedIn, barre instructors are in the top 20 emerging jobs on the site — just behind data scientists and stack developers. NBD.
Group fitness classes have only been growing in popularity, and barre is no exception. Its appeal could be tied to its low impact (high reward) routines, involving small muscle movements that virtually anyone can try. Plus, you can wear really comfortable athleisure to class and feel like a pro. For example purposes of the fitness fad’s exponential growth, our downtown Portland office is surrounded by not one, but three barre studios in just a one-mile radius. Expect the ballet-yoga-pilates-infused workout to keep even more women on their toes as the turnout for classes goes up.
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Activated Charcoal Stays Relevant
Charcoal — another fine powder — is made from nature like coconut shells, olive pits, or even bamboo. When the powder is heated to high temperatures, it becomes activated, which changes its internal structure and makes it more porous than normal charcoal. As a result, it can trap positively-charged toxins, bacteria, or gases before they enter your bloodstream. Since your body can’t absorb activated charcoal, these harmful substances get carried out of your body through adsorption. This is why activated charcoal is said to help reduce body odor, acne, and even germs in your mouth, and can be found in soap dishes, deodorant sticks, and toothpastes. Expect activated charcoal and the research supporting its health potential to continue through 2018.
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Adapt(ogens) to a New Routine
Ok, research on adaptogens is pretty slim, but we’re big fans. More palatable than adding the magic of mushrooms to just about everything, adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha, reishi, and astragalus claim to have some major brain and energy boosting benefits. In an age where everyone seems to be experiencing chronic stress, these super herbs are quickly earning their spot as supplement of the year to help reduce stress (adaptogens claim to play around with cortisol levels to regulate and balance stress inducers). *Alexa, add ashwagandha to my cart.”
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Smarter House
Speaking of Alexa… our homes are healthier than ever before, thanks to the robots that help us out like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home’s unnamed Assistant. We’re happy to report that we’re *finally* living in a modern day robot age. While our kids are running around the house asking Google Home to play their favorite songs, and Amazon Echo is automatically giving us our health tips of the morning, our hands and feet are more free than ever to walk around the house and get moving.
Our home assistants are acting more like personal assistants lately, connecting all our devices from fitness trackers, to our phones, to our watches…to our homes. Soon, Katy Segal will be in our kitchens making us breakfast, and we’ll be waking up to the future. Ok, Google, how should I make my smoothie?
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Pro-Probiotics
Obsessed over your gut much? It’s too late to stop by now because probiotics are keeping the digestive peace in 2018.
Probiotics are a naturally-occurring, healthy type of bacteria you can get more of by enjoying fermented foods like pickles, kimchi, and kombucha, or (2018’s favorite pastime) taking a supplement. A recent Consumer Lab report declared probiotics are the fourth most popular supplement of 2017 — even ranking ahead of multivitamins. Boosting your health from inside out just got real.
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Sink into Better Sleep
“The way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is: getting enough sleep.” — Arianna Huffington has been saying this for years. And people are starting to listen. Perhaps it’s the selfie culture, perhaps it’s the battle of work-life balance — we’re seeing sleep top the charts as the natural remedy for just about anything. Just wait until fitness trackers get better at tracking rest, apps become more intuitive for when you need a refresh, and sleep-inducing beauty products take over your #topshelfie.
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Make More Matcha
We’re talking about real, organic-grown matcha sourced straight from Japan to your doorstep. With a safer amount of caffeine per teaspoon than coffee, and 10 times more antioxidant benefits than one cup of green tea, matcha (yep, another powder!) is making its way into home kitchens and personal care products everywhere. Matcha collagen powders are even a thing. And we’re totally cool with that.